"With the All Spark gone, we cannot return life to our planet. And Fate has yielded its reward: a new world to call home. We live among its people- hiding in plain sight, but watching over them in secret. I have witnessed their capacity for courage, and though we are worlds apart, like us, there’s more to them than meets the eye. I am Optimus Prime, and I send this message to all Autobots taking refuge among the stars: We are here, we are waiting."

--epilogue from “Transformers” (2007)

With those words, a beacon was sent, alerting the cosmos to our presence in a way we never imagined. Some Autobots responded, but more Decepticons- learning of the death of Megatron- came to seek revenge, to take the throne of their faction for themselves, or simply to see that their leader was truly gone and wonder what would happen next. Two years after the All Spark Cube was destroyed, the Autobots have sought asylum in the United States, and they work closely with its government to form N.E.S.T. (Non-biological Extraterrestrial Species Treaty) to cooperate in tracking down arrant Decepticons hiding on Earth and keep the human race unawares amidst growing conspiracies. But with increasing alien activity across the world, it is suspected that the Autobots themselves may be encouraging Decepticons to come to Earth by their very presence here, and the relationship is beginning to become strained. Meanwhile, Sam Witwicky has gone to college, but on his first day he begins uncontrollably spouting gibberish like his great-grandfather over a hundred years earlier. It is discovered that he now retains, deep in his mind, the full knowledge of the destroyed All Spark Cube! Learning of this, the Decepticons steal the last shard of the All Spark, and rebuild Megatron. Teleporting himself to another dimension, Megatron consults with his master- an ancient and evil traitor known as The Fallen, who is the leader of all Decepticons. The Fallen plans to harvest Earth’s Sun for Energon at the cost of destroying the planet as he would have thousands of years ago were he not driven off by the Dynasty of Primes- the original leaders of Cybertron. But to do this, The Fallen must recover the long-lost Matrix of Leadership from the secret Tomb of the Primes- which Sam now holds the only key to finding- to activate the Solar Harvester. And the last surviving descendant of the Dynasty- Optimus Prime- is the only one who can stop The Fallen now…

The origins of the character Chromia in the fan-termed ‘Bayformers’ universe is conflicting. Toy maker Hasbro says that Chromia developed a great friendship with Ironhide on Cybertron, and they became separated after the AllSpark Cube was lost in space, only to meet up again later on Earth (along with her sisters, Arcee and Flareup) after Optimus Prime transmitted the welcome message.
However, in the continuity of the film itself, Chromia is established as one of three parts of the character, Arcee. Each of the three female Autobots actually share the same mind and personality, with them all being considered “Arcee” and not having individual names or unique actions, but neither are two of them drones which are under the command of the ‘main’ pink fembot, Arcee. (Their holographic riders in vehicle mode look the same as well.) For the sake of the toys, they go by individual names, but in the film’s pre-production artwork, they were called the “Arcee triplets” or the “Bike Group”. (Granted, this can be confusing in the film by the fact that the Autobot brothers Mudflap and Skids are indeed twins, but have differing minds and personalities, and it isn’t made entirely clear that the three females do indeed have the same mind despite having different bodies.)

…or is that the other way around? I don’t know- I’m confused! Regardless, for the sake of preserving my own sanity (and not, specifically, in protest of how she is portrayed in the film), I shall treat Chromia as a unique individual while writing this review.

As a smaller-sized Autobot, Chromia is frequently deployed as a scout or decoy- her speed and smaller profile allowing her to sneak past Decepticon sensors with little notice. And since she is not expected to engage the enemy directly, the single rapid-fire machine gun in her left arm isn’t as strong as larger Autobots’, but her agility and deftness on her unicycle leg- in coordination with her sisters, Arcee and Flareup- can easily overwhelm similar- or even larger-sized Decepticons.
In “Transformers- Revenge of the Fallen”, Chromia does not speak. However, her holographic rider (and, thus, those of all three Autobot sisters) is portrayed by model and actress Erin Nass- this is her feature film debut, though [the only other significant reference I can find is that] she served as one of the suitcase-carrying models on the American game show “Deal Or No Deal” (2007-08 season-only).

Chromia’s vehicle mode (back) is that of a real 2007 Suzuki_B-King naked sport motorcycle, designed and built by the Suzuki Motor Company. The term “naked” means that this sub-class points out the sport bike driver’s more-comfortable seated position and ease-of-access to the mechanics, with less emphasis on aerodynamics and speed like those of ‘regular’ sport bikes with streamlined covers (aka fairings). I must claim ignorance & lack of information in pointing out the unique and/or noteworthy highlights of the B-King; no doubt part of its appeal is in performance. My apologies. While the front and back wheels and their associated suspension/drive systems appear accurate, the headlight is divided in two as opposed to being a single piece. The two handles and brake bars are molded separate from the handlebar, and are made of soft black rubber. The fuel tank in front of the driver appears slightly wider and less curvy than the real version, with minor modifications to the seat and flaring directly behind it. The exhaust pipes are cylinders rather than long triangles in profile, and the brake & turn signal lights have been replaced with the warhead of a transparent missile. While the back mudguard remains, the blank license plate on it is left the plain black of the ABS rather than being painted up. Comparing the toy’s obviously-non-functional engine to the real thing reveals the only real inconsistency; some details are moved to different locations and/or changed in size.

This set in vehicle mode has no real poseability other than spinning wheels (no steering in front) and deploying the small black kickstand to keep it upright on display. Though the toy comes with one missile, it cannot be fired in vehicle mode, but can be replaced back while in this mode if desired.

The main gimmick for all of the fully-transformable figures from the 2007 “Transformers” toy line was Automorph Technology™: as one part of the toy was being moved, another section would activate and move by itself via internal gears, springs, and levers. (Usually this applied only going in one direction for transformation but not the other.) For the 2009 “Transformers- Revenge of the Fallen” toy line, the Automorph feature has been replaced with Mech Alive, which is not involved in transforming the toys. Rather it is a gimmick that functions only in robot mode to better imitate, in some fashion, the intricate movements and mechanics of the immensely-more complex CGI character(s).

Some figures are being reissued from the 2007 line since no significant changes were made to the character in that time-span, and will still include their original Automorph feature, but not the newer Mech Alive feature because they were manufactured two years previously.

Since this is a brand new toy which was not released in 2007, the “Transformers- Revenge of the Fallen” Deluxe-class Autobot Chromia has the Mech Alive feature, but not an Automorph Technology feature.

Chromia’s robot mode (back) is a striking contrast to anything that has been seen in Transformers since before 2009. While having wheels on the feet to skate around on are nothing new, having the leg-- no. Having no legs at all, and rolling about on a single wheel like a unicycle is a completely new and original trait from the fan-termed ‘Bayformers’ universe! (The only previous on-screen example of a unicycle design that I can think of is one of the Vehicon generals, Thrust, from the all-CGI TV series “Beast Machines: Transformers” in 1999-2001.) Because of this significant handicap as far as balancing, the display stand can be hooked onto her lower wheel to keep the toy upright. While it is possible to use her left arm to balance her, it’s very tricky to do so. Her head, oddly, has light piping, but her eyes have been painted light blue anyways, rendering this feature useless. There are two discrepancies in Chromia’s appearance: she doesn’t have pronounced shoulder armor in the movie, and the lower half-loop of her… um- leg?- is more complex in appearance, and not simply the fuel tank and seat from vehicle mode. Her upper torso is thin and hollow from behind, with the front wheel [correctly] raised above her head, and two narrow bars forming her ‘waist’ like they are in the film. While the upper halves of her arms are similar, below the elbow is where they differ greatly; the side panels of her engine in robot mode form common armored segments (which also don’t appear specifically there in the movie), but that’s it. The right arm features a three-fingered hand, but the left arm is made up of the upper back-half of the motorcycle, forming her machine gun… well, missile launcher here.

. . .

Unless you have that display stand on-hand, you’re gonna have one heck of a time keeping Chromia upright. Beyond that, there isn’t really any posing you can do with her from the waist down. Though those two light gray bars at her waist are on ball-and-socket joints, they can only swivel during transformation, but they can extend upwards if you wish to give her a little more height. She has ball-and-socket joints in her neck & shoulders, and free-turning joints in the others. Posing her left arm is also a chore because the gun is inside of the elbow, so it always rubs up against her and will never hang straight down. Also, the Mech Alive gimmick in her left elbow restricts poseability a bit. When you get Chromia factory-fresh, her left shoulder joint should have sufficient friction to allow her to point her left arm upwards and have it hold there on its own, but I have no doubt it will wear out quickly. But even with the display stand, she is quite left side-heavy, though she won’t topple over even with it extended outwards as far as possible. (Just… don’t put her on carpet… or bump her, period.) Her right arm and head pose just fine, though her ABS hand does not move.

Though the instructions say for you to turn her handlebars back towards her waist, I prefer to twist them forwards against the headlight cover, and I have photographed her as such.

Mech Alive is a special feature included in almost all transformable figures from “Transformers- Revenge of the Fallen”. In robot mode, specific parts of the figure’s body can be animated beyond simply posing it- panels shift, gears spin, and in some cases there is light-and sound tied in. This brings out a new level of detail to try matching-up against the immensely-complex designs of the computer-generated characters seen in the movie.

For the Deluxe-class Autobot Chromia toy, it has one Mech Alive feature:

At her left elbow is a light gray lever, which is attached to a blue panel behind her missile launcher. When the elbow extends or contracts, the lever will shift accordingly, and with drag or push the panel around.

What the Instructions Don’t Tell You

[fanfare sounds]

The Deluxe-class Autobot Chromia set, fortunately, only has two marks in this frustrating category:

The seat and fuel tank cover remain facing forward. However, they are supposed to be turned back inwards so that the lower wheel can envelop it. It is supposed to be turned inwards to better match the loop in her- um, leg- that is seen in the film, even though it appear far more complex on-screen.

There is a curious black lever running along the back of her leg which is not described in the instructions. It has no function whatsoever in her transformation, or either mode. I suspect it may be involved with another set that is yet to come out…

...but the instructions don't tell you any of this.

Why alien robots should have genders which mimic the stereotypes of human females is not known at this time, and most past TV series leave this unaddressed. (Indeed, Arcee was written into the first film, but her final size in robot mode compared to the larger robots around her, and introducing the gender issue too early in the franchise, ended up having her replaced with Ironhide.) So, there must be markers to distinguish her from her fellow ‘male’ robots, meh, which would be identifiable as such to our eyes. Does Chromia do this? Yes and no. While the unicycle leg completely throws her appearance off, only her torso comes anywhere near being identifiably ‘female’. The width of her shoulders- for a Deluxe-class figure, that is- is certainly part of it, and I suppose that her ‘waist’ could be considered thin enough as well. Two blue panels on her chest only vaguely suggest a bust, but you have to look hard to make an analogy there. Her face, though, is too angular and small in toy form to suggest she’s female either.

(This is the concept artwork for Autobot Chromia, not the final CGI model seen in the film!)

I almost want to call her a mechanical version of a lamia, but the ‘loop’ in her leg and the wheel spoils that image. (Perhaps this is the closest a Cybertronian could get to a serpentine female without having an extended tail that could be easily grabbed onto?) Or, maybe a motorized mermaid instead…? Whatever. The point is, I can’t call her anything except a unicycle robot which is attempting to impersonate the appearance, and possibly personality, of a human female and failing miserably at it. While the shooting missile is nice, that left arm is friggin’ bigger than the one she has in the film! That she has a unicycle leg and how that severely complicates posing here, I won’t get into because that’s the design she got from the movie. But, the cute display stand Hasbro made for her isn’t too bad, and that it also forms a little weapon pod in vehicle mode is a simple but nice touch. Aside from the posing difficulties with her leg and cannon arm, mine has a small flaw- whereas the two blue halves of her torso won’t stay stuck together in robot mode for long, and I constantly have to squeeze them back together every few minutes (but that’s a simple manufacturing flaw, I’m sure). Getting those two halves past the handlebars is tricky but do-able. I can see that giving her light piping in her eyes would have been futile (as I’m sure Hasbro also noticed, thankfully!), so I’m actually glad that they painted her eyes instead. And, yes, her front wheel is supposed to hang over her head like that rather than be stored inside her hollow torso. Oh, and thank you for the small-profile, spring-powered missile! This figure didn’t turn out as badly as I thought it would, despite the balancing issue. But I do wonder how they’re gonna utilize that black bar behind her leg… (I wonder if her sisters, Arcee and Elita-One have similar unused parts…?) So, the Deluxe-class Autobot Chromia set is good enough for just a generally-positive recommendation from me.

Comments

About the mysterious lever, it's a plug to connect all three sisters and form a combinded robot. This idea was dropped from the movie, but not from the toys, at leat fully. So, the instructions remain silent on this, but the toys probably are still able to merge. We need Flareup released to prove this theory, though.

One of the things you need to understand about my reviews is I use sarcasm and deception. While I may say that I don't know what something is or why it is, off-the-record I usually know the reasons behind it... just like the levers on both Chromia and Arcee. In review, I intentionally keep things a mystery- this encourages the reader to read future reviews by me on CDX!
Another example: when I get around to covering the DX Shinken-Oh, in that specific review I will not reference any of the the super combos or accessory mecha that came later... even though the review is coming out months after we learned all of this!

This is a technique that a lot of writers [not just on CDX] use- keeping back enough information to keep the reader interested. Deception and misdirection are some of my favorite writing techniques. However, I will not outright lie- I may casually say something along the lines of 'I'm not certain...' in the text of the review, but I will tell you if I don't know something for certain!
I write everything as if it is brand new, with no foreknowledge of what is to come later in the toy line; that includes in my videos as well.

So, yes- I knew about the lever's purpose months ago, and that Flareup is needed for the combo to be seen. And since I intend to cover all three sisters, you will be hearing from me on it!

. . .

Other than the above, what did you think of my review?

I wonder if the combo will be called Elita-One? lol
------------------------------
CollectionDX Staff

Heh, I know, I use sarcasm and irony a lot in my reviews as well, deception varies, sometimes I do it in a long run, some times just for few paragraphs, I suppose sometimes exposure of information can be equally as effective method of keeping the reader amused as hiding it. But everyone choses his own path in reviewing :) Still it's nice of you for explaining your ways ;)

I'm going to run Chromia's gallery-review as well (not here at least) after I finish dealing with Skids's text review and wonder how will it work.

To answer your question on my feedback for the review. It's good, I see a lot of your personal style in it and I like that. I think you could interlude the paragraphs with more pictures though, it's both more legible and interesting. I think I'd prefer it to hyperlinks to the gallery. I'm not saying you should give every photo here, but a few more would probably do the trick. Also, while I admire your ability of background information gathering, I do not find such extensive background really important that often. It works here, but when you review Super Sentai toys I sometimes overload with information that are completely new since I was never interested in the shows themselves

But that's just me, if it works for you, it's okay, one can always skip the intro and proceed to the main toy review, which I usually do.

What I would recommend without sticking to the "it's your way of reviewing things" catchphrase is your photo background. I know the toy is the important factor here, but a solid background, even if only rested on the edge of the table and the wall, would make things look smoother and even more likeable, at least it works in my case. Just to show what I mean, a rough excerpt from my Chromia's WIP gallery folder.

http://odsiebie.com/pokaz/5142239---881e.html

Anyway, I'm looking forward to your next review and hope you don't mind that I snatched Voyager Starscream by creating his gallery folder on CDX, I'll probably handle him between my Microman/ GI Joes reviews :)

...actually, I was thinking of reviewing Voy Screamer for CDX. But, if you want to, go ahead; I can cover Leader Screamer instead (though I was waiting to see what he looked like before I committed to buying him).

To prevent from stepping on each others' toes, we CDX staffers reserve reviews ahead of time.
For the record, I will be covering all of the new fully-transformable Autobots from RotF that appeared directly in the movie except for Wheelie. I may cover a few Decepticons (Demolishor and Scalpel are waiting to be published), but I'm still undecided if I wanna cover Leader Megs and Supreme-class Devastator or not.
------------------------------
CollectionDX Staff

I know, even though I'm not in the staff I have access to content and saw what TFs you were going to review, but Starscream wasn't simply there. Tell you what, since I'm not even sure in what time I'll tackle that guy, I'll give him some thought and then we'll decide together who's doing him :) Still, I find him one of better ROTFs.

But he's the only toy from the line I think of covering, the others just don't make enough sense for me. Instead I want to cover some TF reissues, two Revoltechs (one is almost finished) and few more Micromen and Joes... maybe even my Binaltechs :)

Eva, I hope you didn't buy Devastator already, he's not worth the MRSP of 99 dollars. I Had him briefly in hands when I was distributing some stuff from Hasbro to my photo-helpers and I think he just isn't worth it.

No- I haven't finalized my list for the Decepticons. I'm thinking of getting Long Haul (despite his over-the-head kibble), and as I said above, I already have Demolishor and Scalpel.
I prefer to get the toys that are in-scale as much as possible.

Beyond that... :/

Scrapper isn't coming out, nor are Hightower and Overload, I turned down Sideways (didn't like the toy), Rampage is "meh" in toy form, Soundwave is too small and a triple-changer (both "meh"), and I don't want Ravage even though he's cool on-screen.

There's Leader Megs that I'm still debating (I won't get the Voy of him because I want him standing eye-to-eye with OP), but I don't know if I can swallow his bulky vehicle mode and poorly-articulated right arm even though he has some great detailing & features.

And, like I said, I was waiting to see how Leader Screamer turned out before I commited to getting/reviewing him, but I would have been satisfied with the new Voyager ver of him.

If I can find the Candy Toy-like version of Devastator, I may get that instead. While the Supreme-class's lights and maw are impressive, I'm not sure about the simplicity of the rest despite his amazing bulk!
------------------------------
CollectionDX Staff

I appreciate the review. It's the best look at the toy I've seen yet. I just can't get too enthused about the design, though. It was passable on film, but in my opinion didn't translate into toy form very well. I've found myself buying far fewer Transformers for this movie than the first.

Nice review, I like how much research you put into it. I'm an avid motorcycleist, been rideing for nearly 16 years now, most of which has been on supersport bikes. I currently own a 2003 Suzuki TL1000R as well as a 2004 SV-650S...The TL was kinda Suzuki's unsuccessful attempt to take on Ducati -great fun V-twin super bike, but a little too porky and with some strange engineering solutions for the task of raceing....The SV is a great fun everyday kinda bike, sorta Suzukis version of the now classic Ducati Monster.

Naked sport bikes are a fairly new subclass that is basicly factory produced "street fighter" style bikes. More about style than performance (although they can and do perform quite well). The B-King uses a detuned Hayabusa engine and is more of a muscle bike (like muscle cars -more at home on the drag strip than turning corners on a race track).

For the any alt mode in any series/movie that has real vehicles involved, I try to bring in as much of its info as I can, as much as I do of the fictitious character's background. But- as I pointed out- I am not a morotcycle enthusiast, and so wasn't certain of any highlights I should mention.
------------------------------
CollectionDX Staff

Do they really say the three bikes are one intelligence? I didn't get that idea from the movie.

I have to agree with those of you saying they aren't too fond of these toys. I bought Rmapage,and he was just impossible to transform back and forth. He moved away to atticville. The only other ROTF figures I bought were Skids and Mudflap as an ice cream truck,but that was more because of the hillarious vehicle than how good of a toy it was.

Well, that's the thing- the toy manufacturer says one thing, and the movie's team says another! And then I read the reverse of both, so I have no solid answer! Even though they were written as individuals by Orci, Kurtzman, and newcomer Kruger(sp?), this was supposedly a decision that Bay made- to make them a hive mind with separate bodies. Thus, Hasbro, presumably, is working off of the earlier script drafts where they were individuals.

But, as I stated above, there is no direct evidence stated in the movie itself to suggest that they are a hive mind rather than unique personalities. (We only see them in action twice, and Arcee only speaks once before she and Chromia are hit by Decepticons in Egypt.) And all of this, of course, becomes even more confusing when you take into consideration that Mudflap and Skids are unique individuals despite being 'twin brothers' (though Hasbro did allow for them to share a telepathic link for the company's sake).

The common theme, though, is that Arcee is team leader regardless.
------------------------------
CollectionDX Staff

In ROTF it's very hard to discern each because of "Bayformers" (like this new phrase) action. Arcee, Chromia & Aunt B, there designs are unique but not very attractive. A mesh a scattered parts discernable in the movie action sequences. There was so much buzz and blur of motion during there actions scenes. Oh ya, and as we all know no further character development for any of robots from the first film. The only Arcee I know is a pink car from Transformers G1 movie, the best.

Okay, we're kinda moving into dissecting the movie itself here rather than the toy, but... One thing I was ever-so-grateful in the second film was that, in intence moments of giant robot action, there wasn't foreground sh*t passing between them and the camera; that pissed me off to no end in the first movie.
And really, if you have seen the first one, then you are kinda acclimated to the fighting style and the blur of 10,000+ parts. Aside from trying to keep track of what they were actually doing (the slow-motion really did help in those instances), my mind didn't freak out this time around.

(One thing I didn't like was how The Fallen's face was a mask of sorts- there should be no under-face for dear ol' Optimus to rip off! Either decapitate him with a sword, or blow his head off.)

True- we didn't get much furthering character development... unless you count Mikaela's tan, and Sam's marked propensity for immortality. :/
------------------------------
CollectionDX Staff

I feel like this site needs a whole new discussion forum to cuss positive or negative about ROTF, all of us I thing have a lot of opinions still whether you love it or hate it, and seeing these toys sometimes brings out certain comments about the movie. When we should stick to the toys "I" and maybe other see the image of that movie character from Transformer and start to make comments about ROTF movie. I still do it can't help it at times... I only saw the movie once, but I'm pissed we never got to know, Sideswipe and the other blue car that pulled Optimus & Jetfire together to fight the Fallen, WTF! Hey just saying. Your a staff member maybe set a forum or something... maybe it's nonsense but as Transformers fans I think it's good to talk about the movie more, positive & negative opinions as long as we don't get out of hands (including myself). And yes, I commented on the forum/podcast comments when I think that guy Andy did it?

Oh, I have no clue since I've never even heard of those lines before. Perhaps someone else on CDX could answer that better than me.

For Bayformers-1, people were fairly consistent online in keeping track of what scale all the fully-transformable figures were to their real counterparts, but that seems to have been left by the wayside this time around.
------------------------------
CollectionDX Staff